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PLD Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12: The Neo Arcadia Arc - Vacation Continues Sub-Entry 111: "Green Meadow/Class Reunion": It was a long trip out of Neo Arcadia City and before long the scenery had changed to far less urban and more rural. It was a nice change to be out of skyscraper territory. And soon enough that gave way to unpaved dirt roads, white picket fences, small lone cottages, and rolling hills. And of course lots of...well...green meadows. We drove past some swamp land marked by a wooden sign reading "Gummy Foot Swamp, a sizable lake that looked pristine and inviting, and through a wooden, covered bridge which made me think of the Tale of Sleepy Hollow. And the was so much forest land. The birds were chirping. The flowers were blooming. On days like this...kids like Asriel deserved a slice of Heaven. A whiff of the air and I decided Heaven is (just) one step away. Or maybe it was the song on the radio that gave me that that specific phrase to describe it. Whatever the case was...I could see how Mitzi and Nermal stayed so humble and pure. :detemmienation: (Music Link) "Is this it?" Asriel asked. Mitzi and Nermal had come along for the ride int the 57' Chevy. "There it is!" Nermal pointed to the white community sign along the side of the road. "Welcome to Green Meadow." Mitzi read off. "We're here. We're home." She said with her voice breaking a little. What lay before was a modest sized town, nothing fancy. A town hall with a clocktower spire--each side had its own clock face pointing to the North, South, East, and West, respectively. A lot of family-owned stores and such. There was a museum with a 1938 Model Q out front. We passed a small candy factory with a sign reading "Schnieder Squirrel's Sweet's Factory". And an old-timey malt shop ice cream parlor that read in big bold letters on the sign "Hoofnagle's Ice Cream Emporium", "Wow. This is where you lived?" Surprisingly, it was me who asked the question and not Asriel. "Be it ever so humble." "So where we headed?" My question was soon answered when we arrived at Green Meadow Elementary School. Its old school house appearance hid the fact that was still pretty sizable inside. Room for lockers, cafeteria, gymnasium, library, a playground out back. We entered and headed toward the classroom Mitzi lead us to. "We're a little early so we're kinda the first. It's going to get a little crowded once people start showing up so..." "Yeah. Some of us us will mingle in the other areas." Sally agreed as she, Violet, and Honey headed off to tour the rest of the school. "This used to be our class. Miss Deering was our teacher." Mitzi sighed and looked at what she confirmed was her desk in the seating arrangement. We looked around a bit before we heard the knock on the doorframe. "Hi, Mitzi. Remember me?" The blue-eyed porcupine asked. She was wearing fairly sensible clothes and a name tag that read: "Hi, my name is: Portia Porcupine". "Portia!" A mini group-hug ensued. "How've you been?" "I've been well. You look great! "Thank you. You two as well." "What are you doing these days, Portia?" "I'm the teacher for this classroom. I have Miss Deering's old job." She beamed. "You know that suits you pretty well." Came a voice from the doorway. We looked over at the tan-furred, blondish floppy-eared...or was it hair...well...the blondish young dog hybrid who had entered. Her paired hair ribbons in her hair...ears...whichever were distinctive, resembling Mitzi's only they were red instead of green. "Holy cow. Channel 256's star news anchorwoman, Dottie Dog was your classmate?" I blurted. "Never forget where you came from even if you rise to big heights. It's good to see you all again." And moments later in walked in a moose hybrid in a suit, tie, and vest that gave him a college professor appearance. His nametag read "Hi, I'm Dr. Montgomery J. Moose". "Wait. Chronosapien Robotics' head mechanical engineer, too?" "Welcome to the reunion, fearless leader." Dottie one-arm hugged him, which he wasn't prepared for. "Good to see you too, Dottie." Montgomery said rather shakily. I got the impression Dottie was rather tomboyish back in her childhood and it kinda still showed. "It seems that it it is becoming quite a crowd." Bunnie observed. "Goodness the place is still as quaint as ever." And next to enter was a wooly sheep hybrid in a fairly sexy yellow dress and heels. She had a yellow bow in her...uh...head wool? She pulled down her dark sunglasses so we could see her eyes. "Got a hello for meeeee?" The way she said it sounded kinda stuck up, maybe a little self-absorbed. I had the feeling she had a priveledged life and was probably spoiled. "Woolma Lamb? The movie star?" I was a in a bit of disbelief. "Hi, Woolma." Dottie greeted with a smirk. "Of course we'd greet Green Meadow's own rising starlette." "I do owe my thanks to your Uncle Marty for jump-starting my career in the movie industry." "Anything for my friends." Montgomery rubbed the back of his head. Next walked in a grey-fured cat hybrid wearing an orange track suit and a white and orange headband. His nametag read: "Hi, My Name is Zipper Cat." "Well isn't this a sight to walk into." He said as he crossed his arms with a sly smirk. "Well. If it isn't the former-loner himself. Aren't you gonna say hi, Mr. Three-Time-Gold-Medalist?" Dottie prodded. "Hey, good buddy. Been a while." Montgomery waved. "Where's uh...?" "He said he'd be here. But you know him." And that was when we were greeted to the sight of a hybrid beaver enter the room in the loudest, most sparkling-est gold tuxedo with obnoxiously loud dollar-sign shaped sunglasses I'd ever seen. "Care to rub your fortune in our faces a little more, Bingo?" Zipper wrinkled his nose. "Uh...hey, Zipper." So this was the infamous Bingo "Bet-It-All" Beaver. Owner and proprieter of Bingo's Bet-It-All Casino Paradise--the very casino Rolfe DeWolfe was last seen in with nearly billion-dollar debts from one too many bad luck gambles. "You've done well." Montgomery observed. "For someone who grew up so...frugal." Woolma added, while studying her reflection in her hand mirror...wait, she was carrying a hand mirror with her initials on the back? "I get it, Woolma. You want me to say it? We were poor! Dirt poor. I bet you wouldn't make light of it so much if you hadn't grown up rich." Bingo crossed his arms. "Okay, okay. Let's not get into arguments after our first meeting in years." Portia tried to keep the peace. "Yeah, this is supposed to be a happy day." Nermal added. Asriel remained speechless, easily overloaded by the presence of so many people he just now learned were very famous. "The Get-Along Gang is back together again!" :detemmienation: (Music Video Link) "We all made it to the reunion." "Not...all of us." Zipper pointed to the two unused name tags that read "Catchum Crocodile" and "Leiland Lizard". "So...they couldn't make it?" Bingo asked. "Yeah it's...kinda hard to make it to a class reunion when you're serving time in prison." Dottie crossed her arms and looked to the side with an unsympathetic scowl. "Well. He has no one to blame but himself. And Leiland just couldn't think for himself so when Catchum was arrested, he was guilty by association. When we were all kids the two of them did nothing but cause trouble and try to get us into it." Portia shook her head. Before long six more classmates showed up each with his or her story to tell. Lola "Lolly" Squirrel was now the C.E.O. and owner of the Schnieder Squirrel's Sweets Factory. Anyone in Neo Arcadia knew the brand name. As sweet as her candies. Maybe a little spritely but not Gadget level. Braker Turtle was now the head of the Library of Congress in Neo Arcadia's capital building. It suited him. Nerdy but helpful in every way. He was a guy you just felt comfortable being around. Rudeyard Lion--semi-retired from the surfing and skateboarding scene. He and Beach Bear had competed together, post-Rock-Afire Explosion. Now he owned his own surf and skateboard shop which sold novelty beanie propellor caps. Shy. Quiet. Yeah. Not much to say about him. Rocko Rabbit. The boxing champion of the W.V.B.A. circuit and Zipper's long time comrad in arms when it came to breaking up trouble and being role-models. Rough around the edges but a heart as gold as Zipper's. Bernice Bear--A homemaker and had her own part time maid-service. There wasn't much to say about her other than I could tell she was a neat freak. And lastly Flora "Forget-Me-Not" Fox. The star photographer for Neo Arcadia's most widely sold nature magazine. When she wasn't taking picturesque photos of rare and exotic flora and fauna, she was tending to her greenhouse. I got the same vibe from her as I did from Lupe. The reunion when for many hours of conversation and catch-up before it was relocated first to Hoofnagle's Ice Cream Emporium. We were served by an aging goat hybrid in spectacles. I could tell he probably didn't have many years left. But he was still alive, kicking and serving up sundaes. We all got our ice cream fix. Finally the reunion was moved to the outskirts of town. I wasn't quite sure why, but I soon had my answer as it came into my view. A lone, abandoned freight train caboose. Worn by age, covered in a bit of moss and ivy. "A lot of memories here in the old Clubhouse Caboose." Montgomery wiped away some of the dust on the framed photo of the group as children. Everyone kinda poked around and remembered old toys and games and such. "Ohh my. Was it always this fithy and dusty?" Bernice and Woolma kinda hung back a bit. "Time makes fools of us all...and relics of our most cherished things." Portia observed, holding back her tears. "All this nostalgia is making me a crybaby all over again." She sniffled. Asriel looked up at her. "I can relate." He said with eyes full of tears. "From one crybaby to another." Portia patted him gently on the head. And that's where we closed the night. We spent time at a hotel before moving on... Sub-Entry 112: "Neon City/We're Gonna Rock On To...": "328 Electric Avenue. That's where where my residence ice. It's going to be dark very soon once we get to Neon City." "I guess we spent too long in Green Meadow on that second day? We won't have time to enjoy--" Rotor started. "Actually we're going to arrive right on time. You all gotta see this." Mitzi said with a smile as she asked us to stop the 57' Chevy and the Tokugawa Limo road-side to the cliff overlooking the city. "Watch and learn." We waited for the sun to go down and the sky to get dark. And then we saw it. The whole city came to life with more lights than any of us ever thought possible. Search lights soon panned back and forth from the center of it all adding to the effect. At that moment "The Night Begins to Shine" by B.E.L. came on my 57' Chevy's car radio. And it set the mood perfectly. :detemmienation: (Music Link) "Ohhhh woooow!" Asriel's eyes were as bright as the lights. "Now do you understand?" She smiled. "Yes. I understand." He replied with the reflection of the luminous dance of visual splender wrapped across the surface of his corneas. We arrived at the monorail station a while later as it was completely dark, having parked our cars at a parking garage near the entrance of the city. And low and behold the monorail car came and I was shocked to recognize it as the big red and yellow form of the Kidd Mobile I had seen in one of my time-travel outings to the 80's where I crossed paths with the strange case of a garage band pulled into an alternate dimension known as the Flip-Side. It was the strangest of all vehicles but incredibly roomy inside with all of the furnishings and modifications still preserved inside. I guess this was meant as a working tourist attraction. It was automated so we were on our way for a quick run around the city before we would later set out on foot. I sat at the pilot seat's control panel. It was all only for show now but I felt a connection to Kidd Video and his friends while enjoying the wide view the windshield gave us. Asriel joined me up front with Bunnie, Violet, and Mitzi also standing by. Everyone else just kinda did their thing further back, occasionally looking forward through the giant windshield. And all the while as we got our preview of the city of 100 million lights and a billion smiles we were treated to the sounds of Lionel Ritchie's "Running With The Night" playing on the speakers. :detemmienation: (Music Link) "Neon City is so bright! So colorful!" "It's home. Well...second home." Mitzi smiled. We got a nice little round about preview of everything. Things like the 50's section of town where everything was a throwback to a bygone era. An era that sometimes I wished i had been born into. Simpler times. Wholesome times. Times of full-service gas stations, drive-in movies, hula hoops, dime-store malt shops, poodle skirts, butch wax for styling hairdos, the first ball-point pens, classic cars, and the birth of Rock n' Roll. And then there were the animated display showcases where neon-tubes and matrices made entirely of light bulbs (no L.E.D.'s or flat-screen monitors) showcased little animations and mini cartoons and such. And just so many neon tubes. So many many neon signs. The kind of lighting you could only get by energizing certain chemicals such as neon, argon, and so forth. Every facet of a themed city of lights just came together in one package; the kind of things you expected from a place called Neon City. :detemmienation: (Music Link) After getting a taste of everything, we got out and explored the city on foot, combing through it a section at a time. Enjoying a late dinner at the Spark Rock Cafe where Bunnie signed a waiver for their hottest of nuclear hot buffalo wings. And she ate every one without breaking a sweat or flushing red. "Wow. You. Are. HARDCORE." Honey gave a thumbs up. Which finally brought us to Electric Avenue. This part of town was especially unique. The power lines erected were only for display but inside each inch of clear piping, a constant crackle of electric lightning added to the already over-the-top illumination. The real power lines were buried underground but just seeing this novelty give a literal interpretation to Electric Avenue's name was a treat I certainly appreciated. And it left an impression on all of us. Especially Asriel. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before. How do they do that?" "Science." I replied simply. "Wow, science is so cool!" Asriel gripped his fists under his chin, with a sort of amazement that sounded similar to Ash Ketchum when when Clemont unveiled a new invention. We took a moment to admire the neon splendor and animated characters. Mitzi was quick to point out Neon Leon, the city's official mascot--named for its current mayor, Leon Lumiere. We walked past the famed Transistor Sister Ice Cream Parlor, where the electric blue rasberry slushee-floats were said to be legendary. Other restaurants and food attractings included Electric Pizza, Dr. Bright's Brilliant Barbecue, and Megawatt Chocolate. Our attention was grabbed by the electronics super-emporium's holographic projection of a neon line-charachter breakdancing whle giving off static crackles to the sounds of "Electric Avenue" by Eddie Grant. And there on the corner of the next intersection it was. 328 Electric Avenue. A sizeable parking lot around a sizeable restuarant. But not a single car parked there. :detemmienation: (Music Link) "Here it is. Home." Mitzi lead us across the way and to the doors. She unlocked them and let us enter. Inside was... "Former home of the first Showbiz Pizza Place in Neo Arcadia. Even before the Antioch store was open elsewhere in the country." Mitzi explained as we walked into a mostly empty area with a couple remaining arcade machines, the redemption prize counter, the order window, the rows of skeeball tables, and pieces of memorabilia still around. A lot of things were covered up. There was evidence of construction going on. I noticed the display cases housing copies of the band's old uniforms. A few satire movie posters still hung up featuring the Rock-Afire Explosion such as Billy Bob in "Beverly Hills Bob", Mitzi in "Mitzie" (Tootsie), Rolfe and Earle in the String (the Sting), and Fatz in "King Fatz" (King Kong). "My living quarters are upstairs. Bedroom, bathroom, other rooms. The restaurant's kitchen's still working; it's big but it serves my purposes. I found the old recipes there." "I remember you taking me here for birthdays, Nermal." I looked on. "When I was only a werewolf cub." I said as I looked upon an unplugged Popeye arcade game. "I'm kinda turning this into a museum to commemorate the happy times we had here." Mitzi explained. She led us to the dining/showroom where the three-stage venue still remained. The old banners and display were still up. The curtains were open on all three There was Rolfe's rainbow banner and "APPLAUSE" sign as well as his lone cymbal on a stand. On center stage was the old animatron sun and moon hanging props as well as Fat's giant animatronic spider, Antioch (named after the Antioch SPP restaurant). There was Dook's drumset and the wooden prop stump were the cute little animatronic teddy bear, Choo-Choo popped in and out of. It was weird that there were so many robotic companions for a life action band of Hybrids but I guess that's why I wasn't in showbiz. Beach Bear's surfboard was still laying flat on the platform next to the spot where Mitzi performed on the far right of center stage. About the only thing missing was Fatz' tune machine keyboard which Violet had..."borrowed" the last time she was here. Which finally left the far-right stage where Billy Bob's "Super Service Station" backdrop and props still lay. The prop "Gas-O-Hole" gas pump. Billy Bob's home-made guitar with the Birthday Bird still perched on it. And of course Looney Bird's oil drum "residence". Mitzi sighed as she looked upon it all with a heavy heart. Nermal placed a hand on her shoulder, reassuringly. "It must've been very amazing when it was still open, huh?" Asriel asked. "The most amazing place I ever knew." Mitzi said, shedding a tear. "I would have loved to have performed in a small place like this. Far away from the overblown splendor of the concert tours." Willamina admired the craftwork. "I'd sure love eating in a place like this." Skeeter pulled up a chair and propped his feet up on the table. "Hey, little bro. That's not cool. Just because it's not our house doesn't mean you can make yourself at home." Rotor scolded. "It's okay, Rotor. Nobody's going to care. I sure don't. I'd rather you be comfy in the place of my old memories. It's not much but it's my residence here in the big city. My own little shrine to better times." We enjoyed our time in the city that night, enjoying some malts and milkshakes in the 50's part of town, catching a show at the drive-in movie theatre after picking up the cars. I brought ther perfect vintage vehicle, while Violet had to improvise for the stretched limo, deciding to host a party in the limo's built-in hot-tub in back. Gods that girl could really flaunt it. And finally we all retired to a night of sleeping bags in Mitzi's residence for a sleep-over. Despite Violet's attempts at attempting to scare us with Five Nights at Freddy's moments and pranks, we had a restful sleep. Tomorrow we'd be off to Technopolis... Sub-Entry 113: "Technopolis, the Prototype Industrial Expo City": Technopolis. Just the name told plenty. We were going from extreme humble to extreme sci-fi in record time. Compared to Neo Arcadia City this was a megalopolis that seemed almost too pristine to be believed. Spires of glass and metal reached toward the skies, re-enforced "diamond-glass" walkways between buildings gave it shadows of Futurama's New New York, and of corse the hover conversion vehicles brought to life a Back to the Future 2 vision that Earth Prime was still waiting for. In a word: SCIENCE! :detemmienation: (Music Link) "They call it an Exposition City--a prototype. One big testing ground for domestic products that aren't on the market. It's rigorous testing for everything--ranging from several months to several years, to weed out any problems, safety issues and such. Whether being tested by certified quality checkers, anonymous test groups, or just everyday people, something is getting put through its paces and put under the microscope." "I had no idea so much went into making things." "Sure, Azzy. There's a design and modeling process, a lot of meetings and reports, fabrication and assembly, and a lot of troubleshooting and testing before something as simple as a toaster makes it to the factory to be mass produced." "That's nice and all, Commander, but that's definitely not the life for me. Not enough speed." Sally gave a cocky grin. "There's more to Technopolis than just a lot of fancy tech and appliances. Don't forget the prototype sports. Like Hyperball, Vector, ZG-Boarding, and *ahem* the Overdrive Grand Prix?" "Hey, don't forget we got fun stuff to do besides sports. Gravitron Park, remember?" "How can I went you keep reminding us, Honey." Willamina prodded. "Just sayin'." We toured the city, taking in the sights, the sounds and experiences of the city. Surprisingly we did a lot of window-browsing and actual shopping. Despite most of everything in the city being prototypes that weren't ready to be released to the public, ther were more than plenty of things that had passed inspection and were ready to be placed on the market in the very near future. Things like the Gyro-Cycles that Violet became very interested in. We spent the night in a hotel with all the latest conveniences. From a fully programmable automated room service system combining dumbwaiters, retractable conveyor belts, and pneumatic tubes like in mail-delivery services our experience was quite luxurious. The desk-top computer had, instead of a physical keyboard, a holo projection while turned the very computer desk into a functioning keyboard--that tracked the user's finger positions and the presence of pressure on the hologram keys. The TV was similar with channels extending well several thousand, delivered in crystal clear 4K resolution projected from a tiny microdot wirelessly linked to a hotel's system. When it rained and some of us went out on the town, Asriel soon found fascination with the matter-wave projection umbrellas; hololythic projections that were electromagnetically tethered to the hand grip rather than by physical metal. Talk about your upgrades! But for me...it brought back memories of that place in the Underground. Yeah...the piano...the statue...all of those things. It really was raining somewhere. Whether it was here...or there. The next day we headed to Technopolis Beach where Sally took us to her condominium. "Here's my residence. It's not much but--" "It's really cool, Aunt Sally." "Aunt? Huh...makes me feel kinda old and tied down but...I guess I could get used to that, kiddo. It's still a better thing to be called than Hot Dog Water." "Wish I was rich enough to afford a place like this." Mitzi said. "Y'know. It isn't about the money or the luxury. Truth is Nikita got us this place when we first came to Technopolis. I wasn't in a good mental state then so I didn't ask how she pulled it off since we had no I.D. or anything. We weren't even citizens of the country." "So when do we get to hit the beach?" Skeeter asked. "You know I was wondering that." Rotor agreed. "Hold on, you two. We're not even geared to have fun in the sun yet. Sally, is there a place where we can get some swimming attire and accessories?" Sally just grinned. It of course meant a visit to the shops to get swimwear and accessories. It would be Asriel's first experience on the beach and I wanted it to be special. Asriel had known Gadget to a tinkerer and not particularly athletic. So when she asked to drop in on the surf shop, it came as a surprise. My little sister quickly impressed him with how savy she was with surfing. Maybe I was reading too far into it and channeling some 1980's television but Gadget did sound coincidently like "Gidget"......nah. Just coincidence. Finally we ended up buying scuba gear. Our time before the OGPX Race was gonna be sweeeeeeet! "Can I say it?" "Go ahead, Asriel." Asriel took a deep breath and cried out "SURF'S UP!" And then he and Gadget shared a high five. "I taught him that!" Gadget giggled. "Wow. I used to be annoyed by that cliche." Willamina crossed her arms and smirked Violet had started nicknaming her Willie to keep it short...and to reference Indianna Jones and the Temple of Doom. "Nah, it's all right. It's all part of the kid's first experience." We had all gotten changed into our swimwear and hit the beach. "Last one in's a rotten egg!" Skeeter ran ahead of everyone and got his swim on! "Hey! Wait for us!" Asriel followed behind and got in the water. "Huh? Waaah! It's salty!" He called back. "Yup. That it is." I mused as I laid back in my lawn chair and crossed my legs and put my elbows out. I could have de-morphed at any time to try for a tan but nah. This was nice. Despite the fur coat, I wasn't even remotely suffering. Mitzi, Honey, Sally, and Willamina started things off with a little volly ball. Violet showed off her skills with making rather impossibly large and detailed sandcastles. Bunnie enjoyed a session of meditation. Later on Mitzi and Sally tossed a frisbee around while the rest of us decided to watch Gadget shoot the curl. "Here I go, big brother! Cheer for me, won't you?" "She's amazing!" Asriel exclaimed as he brought his cam-corder out of his ITEM storage and filmed her show her impressive trick skills. "Little sister is entirely self-taught. Kind of an interesting story. One of of the Arcade Brothers' trips, Gadget and I went with them to a tropical island resort Oddly enough it was a case of mistaken identy that even got her versed in it. What was so unbelieveable was that Gadget discovered she had a nearly identical twin half-way around the world-- mouse hybrid by the name of Lawhiney who was some kind of tribal princess from a neighboring island or something. It was kind of a strange affair. Gadget ended up teaching herself how to surf." "A twin?" "One of those life coincidences that just doesn't seem to be real until you see it with your own eyes. I didn't used to believe in the theory that everyone in the world probably has an identical twin they don't know about until that day. She probably won't want to talk about it. Lawhiney wasn't...the best person in the world if you follow." "Oh." "Yeah." I hesitated a bit to let it sink in. "Gadget almost spent the rest of her life there and we would have been stuck with an fake if I weren't so good at knowing my own little sister. Broke her heart to find out she wasn't really her friend...just a way out of her life." "I won't say anything." Asriel looked on. Later that day... "I haven't seen sensei for a while. Where is she?" "Miss Bunnie is over there...standing on that wooden post by the fishing pier?" "What's she doing?" "Hey...isn't that...?" "At the risk of you indulging your nostalgia, Violet...yeah. It is. That form. I think she's really practicing it." Bunnie stood on one leg, the other leg lifted with the knee bent and the arms up and out...like a crane. "Watch, Asriel." And quickly she snapped her standing leg out in a speedy kick while landing on the other foot. "The Crane Kick. It's so iconic. Seeing Bunnie show it off so beautifully." "Wouldn't try to bug her about it, Vi. Not since the passing of her sensei who first taught it to her." "Come on, you know it's a cool thing to watch during this Cruel Summer." :detemmienation: (Music Link) "Tease her about it too much and you might end up in a body bag. Come on, let's head back so we can continue to Bop-Bop on the Beach." :detemmienation: (Music Link) "I really gotta try to track down his student...the Larusso kid." "You mean Daniel." "Yeah, him. Daniel-san." "Listen to you use the honourifics like a boss." I prodded, making light that the only Jangese words Vi liked to learn where the ones that were crude, offensive, or NSFW. Asriel got a little closer so he could study the form. I had a feeling he was committing it to memory. Several crane kicks later Bunnie rejoined us in time to show off a Jangese beach activity. "So...it's like hitting a pinata?" Mitzi asked. "In so many words." Bunnie handed a rainbow-colored blindfold to Asriel. I helped him tie it on and made sure he couldn't see. "But with a watermelon. Huh." Honey scratched her head. We all got some distance. Bunnie brought her hand up then brought it down quickly like a referee in a karate tournament. "Hakkyoi!" And Asriel started swinging. It looked like he didn't have any idea where to aim but then... "SPLORT!!!!" "Huh. Beginner's luck." Violet wrinkled her nose "Or was it?" Bunnie mused. "Nicely done, Asriel. Way to trust those senses of yours." Asriel pulled the rainbow-colored blindfold down around his neck so that it looked like a scarf. And I had a weird sense that I was about to channel something...likely from one of the Underground AU's I had observed. I was sure I had seen something like this before. Wellll, it looks like I stepped into another sandbox...while already standing in a pretty sizable sandbox. "Eh-heh..." I sweat-bulleted. Later still Rotor, Gadget, Skeeter, Asriel and I went scuba-diving. Once we were all up to speed on things we all went for a deep dive and wow It was nothing like I'd even seen. So much life. So much coral. So much blue. Fish and seahorses and such. I felt like VIolet would make a joke about "where's the singing Jamaican crab and his big musical number"? Really, Violet. It was an amazing experience. Asriel recorded everything on the waterproof snapshot an video camera Sally got him. We spent all day there and when night fell, Sally had secured a permit for a cookout on the beach. We sat around the camp fire, swapped ghost stories and sang songs with Asriel attempting to play the acoustic guitar. He needed practice but he wasn't terrible at it. Some hot dogs and later on some s'mores and we eventually retired to the night. A big day was coming up for Sally and Team Acorn. Sub-Entry 114: "Turbotropolis Speedway/The Overdrive Grand Prix": "This is...not the kind of sport I was expecting." "Welcome to my thoughts, when we first recruited her, Asriel. One part foot race, one part Immortal Grand Prix (IGPX), one part Tron: Legacy." "I don't know what those other two are." "Hang around Violet and you'll know soon enough." We watched for Sally and the others on the track. We took in the music blaring on the Turbotropolis Speedway loudspeakers. I recognized the sound of "Turbo Lover" by Judas Priest. Sally always considered it a personal anthem of hers. She'd always think of...that guy when it played. :detemmienation: (Music Link) At that point both teams were setting up on the track. "Well, well. Another year. Another reunion. Another serving of humilation for you." The siamese cat hybrid taunted with a sneering grin. Her nasally "nyah-nyah" voice was obviously grating on Sally's ears. There was a vibe about her that spoke untold layers of being vain and completely self-absorbed. Pride thy name was Susan "She-Lion" Silo. "I got you some befitting of your impending loss. Here. Eat up." She said as she tossed an uncooked hot dog into Sally's face. "Enjoy the pre-game snack, Hot Dog Water." "Hey! Ruuuuude!" "Yeah, you know damn well she doesn't like chillidogs!" "They don't pay us to be polite, mee-yuuuun. The sooner we get done schooling you pit-sniffers, the sooner *yawn* I can go home and take a nap." Robert "Kool Kitty" Towers adjusted his shades. White furred, Tall and scrawny. Just by listening to the guy, one could tell he was incredibly lazy off the track. But what was really annoying about him was how he butchered the pronounciation of the word "man". Like he couldn't make up his mind whether he was meowing or being about 40 or 50 years too late to be a beatnik. "Why you--!" Honey started. "Honey. I got this." Sally held up her hand. "Tossing one of your own at me, huh, She-Lion?" "Excuse me? Come again?" "It's just like you to be flinging...wieners. Takes one to throw one, wouldn't you say?"" "Grrr..." Sue tightened her fist. "All that talk about food is making me hungry. When can we eat?" Sure enough Marshall "Fat Cat" Efron lived up to his name. It was rather incredible he even fit into the OGPX S.A.N.D.S. BioWare/OverTech suit let alone be in any conceivable shape to compete. It was fairly obvious that he wasn't the smart one. He quickly shoved a hand-full of candy bars down his throat, one-by-one and licked his paw. Did I need to say it? Total glutton. "ALL TEAMS TAKE YOUR MARKS!" blared on the loudspeaker. "Hey, Kool Kitty. Try not to fall asleep mid-sprint." "Oh it is to laugh, Windshear. The only one going to take a nap is you. A dirt nap. I'll be sure to get you a headstone that reads 'Here lies my career'!" "Victory tastes great and I'll be eating it up!" Fat Cat licked his lips. "Careful, tubby. You just might get yourself a bad case of indigestion. I'll be sure to enjoy the victory in your place after I make you burn off a few thousand calories." Honey snickered. "We settle this at last." "Finally tore your eyes off of your compact mirror I see." "Some of us are gifted with beauty. And some of us are...well. You. I'd call an average Jane like you a "norm-ie" but I don't want to insult normal people." "Don't get distracted with all your primping, She-Lion. You might actually care enough about your own merits that you don't have to rely on your sponser's dirty tricks and cheats." "Yeah, how is ole' Master Blaster anyway?" Willamina taunted. "Hey, don't call him that! Address him with RESPECT, mee-yuun!!" Kool Kitty snapped. "Whatever you say, Corporate door-mat. You guys might actually be able to sell some albums if you...I don't know...learn to sing and stop lip-synching." She added. "You know she's got a point...if we don't start raking in record sales soon, we'll get skinned alive by his most taxidermy-ness!" His taxidermy-ness? Okay then. Still... "Enough! You punks aren't going to get us off our game. We got this in the bag." She-Lion retorted. I was glad that we were too far away from the track to hear the bitter conversations going on. At least most of us. That was when I noticed Dr. Lynx making last minute adjustments on Team Acorn's gear and such. When did she have time to fly out here? "We good to go, "Otacon?" "Still not sure why you refer to me, your pit crew engineer, by that obscure reference, but yes. The countdown's about to start. Don't push your systems any further than you have to." "It's your call sign, Doctor. And really. Thanks, Nikita. We win this and we owe our victory to you." At the same time Team Copy Cat was being serviced by their own team of mechanics. "Keep it clean, you three...if you can." Sally looked smug. "They'll be scanning for illegal ultraviolet tethers this time around." That really pissed She-Lion off. At that moment the matter-wave track reconfigured and the hololyths and display reloaded, choosing the theme for this race. "And today's race's theme is...beautiful Midori no Oka's island ruins and grassy plains. "Hey...isn't that Green Hi--" Violet started before Asriel's cheer of "Go, Sally! Go, Willie! Go, Honey!" interrupted her. I had to admit...this track configuration did look familiar... "You grew up in Midori no Oka in Jang, didn't you, Bunnie?" I turned to her. "Brings back a lot of memories when I was allowed to venture out on my own from the temple on the mainland. I'd take a boat to the island and go there to practice my speed and survival skills." "When you were only five?" "I chose to grow up a little too soon." "I guess." FINAL LAUNCH IN 60 SECONDS! Each of the competitors took their positions in track-runner starting positions. Final prep was made and the starting lights ticked down from red to yellow before the numeric display got to the 3-count. THREE! TWO! ONE! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! And at that, all sound just suddenly stopped as a massive spherical blast wave erupted from the six racers and expanded outward while sucking up all the air for a moment. And then a rainbow of six different colored light contrails--blue, yellow, and red for Sally's team and purple, green, and orange for Sue's--seared down the track and across the terrain. As they roared up the loop-de-loop in the track I felt a familiar nostalgia as my time on Mobius brought back memories of the "Sonic R" incident. Asriel watched in fascination, waving his Team Acorn pennant around. As the first break in the track came up, the paths of gold rings appeared, leading to the next section of track. Everyone's Butterfly Burners fired up at the same time as they jumped off the ramps and flew straight for the ring tunnels in formation. As they each flew through his or her own ring tunnel, the speed boost that came with it was incredible. It was hard to see them as they navigated through to the other side and continued their speedy trek around the track I observed several "modes" the race shifted between as the race went on. We had just seen flight mode. For Technical mode we watched the teams jump obstacles and go through what I could only describe as "platforming". During Target Mode, the teams would try to rack up scores with ranged and melee attacks with specialized hololythic projection. When Combat Mode rolled around, both teams went one-on-one with martial arts while using the high-speed hoverjets in their Overdrive Sandals. Each one's suit was geared to register hits, blocks, and sense ducks, dodges, and missed attacks while absorbing and dispursing the impacts to the body. But when speed mode hit, few of us--Asriel included--were prepared for the sudden acceleration boost. For the moment the TURBO panels appeared on the track, the two teams suddenly went from hard to see blurrs......to nothing more than solid, colored paths of light that seared across the length of the track to such extremes I was vaguely reminded of Earth particle accelerators. The score tallies were changing back and forth. While I couldn't prove it, I suspected Team Copy Cat was definitly cheating on the track. But I had yet to see anyone blackflagged. The number of laps increased over and over until finally the checkered flag came out. "See you at the finish line, loser!" She-Lion charged ahead. With Honey covering Fat Cat and Willamina covering Kool Kitty, it was now a race between team leaders to see who'd take the win. That's when... "Hey! Those are Shock Rockets!" Willie cried as she an extra set of jets on Sue's suit opened up and burned to life. "Those were banned years ago! That dirty cheater!" Honey snarled. "Girls, we're going to need to crack the whip!" "Oh man...I love that plan! This is gonna be bonzer!" "Way shway! Let's do it to it!" "Okay!" By now they were spinning at blinding speed while somehow still maintaining their run around the track. It was like something out of cartoon and they were pulling it off. "Now!" Sally let go as she sling-shot forward and fired everything she had in her suit's systems, catching up to Sue and overtaking her! Sally gave a cocky wave goodbye as she sailed past the checkered flag. "NOO!" She-Lion freaked at about the same time her Shock Rockets began fizzling out. "And Team Acorn takes the victory!" Combined with the score numbers and the first place finish plus the penalties against Team Copy Cat, it was a knockout. "Knew they could do it!" Asriel was on his feet, fists in the air. The celebrations began. We'd have to say goodbye to Sally and Team Acorn for the next five or six months while the season was going on. But until then we still had a day at Gravitron Park coming. Sub Entry 115: "Gravitron Park": Asriel's first experience with an amusement park went exactly like I thought it would. "Oh. My...!" "Deep breaths, Azzy. Deep breaths." "This is...I can't...it's so...do you see the...it's all...!" "Might want to complete those sentences, kiddo." Violet said with a grin. "Word of advice, Asriel. Ride the roller coasters and spinning rides BEFORE you have anything to eat. Trust me." Mitzi patted his shoulder. "Unless you want to change your nickname to the Vomi-nator. Or the Duke of Hurl. Or Heave-el Knievel." "That's enough euphomisms for throwing up out of the peanut gallery." Mitzi flicked Vi's ear. "Oww." Gravitron Park. The largest amusement park in Neo Arcadia. Towering at the center of it was the full scale replica of the Palace of Power that existed of world in our universe's AU countpart to Video Land--a galaxy which inspired our own N-Division. "So. We have a game plan, fearless leader?" Vi prodded. "Well. Clockwise? Counterclockwise? Every man, woman, and child for themself?" Skeeter asked. "We could start small and build our way up." Mitzi suggested looking toward the carnival midway section. Rows of prize-winning booths ranging from ring toss to target-shooting, hoops, and of course the iconic test-your-strength bell-ring. And mixed in were smaller rides like the Scrambler--a row of twelve total hanging seats divided first into trios that spun on an axis which in turn were suspended from four metal arms branching from a main axis. There was also a carousel "merry-go-round" and a small-scale set of side-by-side double roller coasters. "Or we could go BIG and get all the crazy out of our systems right away!" Honey pointed to where the insane roller coasters, drop towers, and the "Zephyr" spinning sky swing carousel were. These were the towering, twisting, turning, looping, spiraling rides. Some of which were suspended rollercoasters. The crowning attraction being the gravity coaster which seemed to work off the same principles as the Flight Mode of the OGPX race. A few miles of track that not only loop-de-looped but also coiled, spiraled like a Twizzler licorice rope, serpentined, and just went bat-guano insane. Gadget kinda shuddered. "Those rides are scary." She whimpered kneeling down and clutching Asriel in a hug. "How bout' the water park. We still got our swim gear in our E.N.G.I.N.E. dots." Willie offered. "And be dripping when we get to the other rides? That's more like a thing to end on." Violet wrinkled her nose. "What about the themed sections? Like Wild West World, Movie Magic, Future Quest, Fantasyland, VideoMundo Planet, Samurai Showcase, Renaissance Fest, and Nature Paradise?" Nermal suggested. "Those place always seem kinda like they're doing a lot corporate brand name pandering to me, Nermal." Willamina crossed her arms. Honey nodded in agreement. Sally wasn't kidding when she described the sheer size of this park. How did they fit so much into it and arrange it in neat compact sections? "Perhaps, since this is Asriel's first experience, we should let him decide." Bunnie offered. All eyes were on Asriel. "Gee...no pressure, huh?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Well. Let's just wing it and let whatever happens...happen." He shrugged. Mutters of "Yeah, I could go with that.", "Good idea.", "Why not?", and so forth. So that's what we did and went with the flow. We decided to start with the themed sections and save the midway for later so we weren't hauling any prizes we won off the bat. We had to be careful how much we put into our E.N.G.I.N.E. microdots, Matter-Wave Storage systems, and Asriel's ITEM box. Asriel snapped many a picture and made a lot of videos of us as we found ourselves in interesting situations. Things like Bunnie and Violet in the mini-kendou competion--a hilarious one-sided duel resulting in Violet taking more foam-padded swords strikes than I had ever thought possible. "Best...7 of 13...?" She tried to save face. Bonk. Right to the kabuto helmet. "...I guess that's a no...?" "Winner, competitor Bunnie!" Bunnie exited the padded mini arena and handed the gear back. "Little help here...!" Violet remained flat on her back. Then there was Asriel's experience watching a reenactment of an old west pistol duel at high noon while Bunnie couldn't hold back her appreciation of an era of cowboys and indians. "Mamma would have liked to see this." She mused, trying to keep the tears back as the tomboy in her was deeply moved. itzi had fun dressing up in a Ren-Faire maiden's frock that seemed very similar to Foxy's colleen attire while Sally got hyped over the armored joust. I think there was part of her that saw appeal in being an armored knight. A sentiment which made me think back to Undyne. "Huzzahhhhh!" She hollered as she waved her fist in the air. Violet about fangasmed herself to death in Movie Magic. And the quotes and moments just didn't stop with her. Until Sally dumped a bucket of popcorn over her head. My moment of nostalgia was peaked in the VideoMundo Planet section with all the walk-around character and cosplay photo-ops of some of N-Division's most legendary game world heroes and a nice walk through the Palace of power. I gladly took a selfie with the Samus cosplayer and even caught up with an old friend cleverly cosplaying as...himself. This was one of my major adventure stories saved for another day. "I wondered whether you'd be here and whether you'd come as GameWorld's Game Master or the Hero of Hyrule. Good to see you, man." "Right back at you." came the response of the Power Glove wielding Christopher "Captain N Neo" Blair. In his AU, he was the prophecized game master of Game World much as Kevin Keene was the prophecized game master of ours. But more than that, he was also turned out the be his universe's Link as well. Every so often he would slide under the radar of S.T.C. and pay a visit to our little crystal cube dimension in space. We had a good conversation about the past, the present, and the future before we went our separate ways. Gadget throughly enjoyed the petting zoo at the Nature Paradise and she got her space on with Rotor and Skeeter at Future World. Which of course ended in hilarity when Violet almost got them kicked out when she hacked the P.A. system just to deliver a single phrase. "Piiiiiiiiigs iiiiiiiiiiiin spaaaaaaaaaaaaaace!" And yet it still got her scores of applause. Somewhere Miss Piggy had to appreciate this. Yet at the end of it all we only scratched the surface of the park. "Uhh...I'm having second thoughts about this, Aunt Vi! Miss Honey!" Asriel had just met the height requirements for the Asteroid Coaster. :detemmienation: (Music Link) "You took the dare. Now pony up or welch like a--" "If you say crybaby, Vi I'm going to hit you." I glared at her. "Don't worry. We'll be with you." Bunnie and Sally took the seats behind him. The coaster started up and hovered down the mag-lev rail to the designation electromagnetic path and ascended to the top of the mother of all hills. Asriel whimpered and got a good grip on the harness. Being strapped in with the X-shaped seat-belt harness didn't reassure him. That was when the ion thrusters popped out of the sides of each car. "What are...! Oh no..." He suddenly had a very good idea where this was going but didn't have time to process it. "Oh no...oh no...oh no no no nonononononono...!" And then in a single blast of acceleration, Asriel's scream was covered up by the roar of the boosters and magnetic engines as the whole thing went screaming into easily 100 mph nearly free-fall drop down the track. But that wasn't even close to the peak of it. Through twists and turns and breaks in the track where the coaster sailed through the Static Accumulator anti-gravity ring gave him thrill after thrill after thrill without letting up once. The ascending and descending spring coils. The series of loop-de-loops. The nearly horizontal loops. And of course the helix twists on both the track and in mid air. All the while the holographic spendor of illusionary planets, meteors, comets, and satellites danced about, at times celestial objects crashing into each other inches away from the front of the cars while scattering pieces in opposite directions. If that weren't enough the whole thing was set to the surround sound booming driving rock of the Asteroid Coaster official theme song. Finally the voyage came to an end at the station and I got a look at Azzy's roller coaster face. His fur was completely poofed out and his eyes were the biggest I'd seen. His open mouth revealed his clenched teeth. Of course Violet was already a step ahead having downloaded his photo from the cameras on the track. "So how was it?" It took a few moments but Asriel finally snapped out of it. He was silent for a moment...then without warning he raised his arms and exclaimed with a big grin. "Let's go again!" Laughter all around. After a few more dizzying rides of various kind, once we got all the crazy out of our systems we stopped to eat at an Electric Pizza. From there we jumped all over the park. The Midway... "...How are you so good at Ring Toss, Aunt Sally?" "Don't know. Just have a...thing when it comes to rings." Sally slyly spun the ring around her finger before nailing another shot and was awarded with the biggest stuffed plus of a certain, familiar blue needlemouse. "Your boyfriend's a celebrity it would seem." Violet teased. "He's not my...oh no, we're not getting into this." Sally defended. "Then maybe Nermal will take that plush off your hands--" "Yeah. Not happening." Sally said hugging it. "There you go. No one touches BAE but Sal." Bunnie facepalmed. Laughter all around. Again. We of course made it to the water park. It was Asriel's first experience with a "wave pool". "Whoah...whoaaah!" It took him by surprse as he waded in the innertube. "Just go with the flow, Asriel." Rotor laid completely on his back. "How do you do that, Rotor?" Honey asked flatly. "Simple. Blubber floats." Violet whispered before taking a splash of water to the face from Sally. "Yeah. Gonna ask you to check your rude at the door, Vi." The water slides. "Wheeeeeee!" Gadget and Mitzi each took one of the side-by-side corkscrew tubes. And the day managed to still be filled with more. Hot dog stands, rockin' bands, laser light shows, and everything from dodge-em bumper cars to laser tag. And it all came to a head that night with the biggest fireworks display many of us, Asriel especially, had ever seen. "This world is so full of wonder...so full of amazement." Asriel looked up with the most wide-eyed wonder I'd seen yet, "I just never want to leave here." "Yeah...I know the feeling..." I said my ears drooping a little. It wasn't just that eventually we'd have to go back to Miranda City. No. It was other things. I knew I'd have to go back to the Underground. And my recent trips had certainly made the others worry. But that was the short-term. The long-term worry. What if......what if Asriel never wanted to go back home to the Underground. To a different but familiar timeline. What if...what if this really was his permanent home and I'd never bring him back to his family? It didn't make sense. I should want him to be with us forever. But I was conflicted by the feeling that I wanted to stay with us...and that I convinced myself he had to go back to his real family in a stable Underground environment. Maybe Asgore and Toriel would be okay with the Happy Ending of the pacifist timelines. No. I made a promise to myself. I had to bring about this renunion. Some day. I shouldn't be worrying about it. What I was thinking of was years off before I had to cross that bridge. "Volt-san." Bunnie placed her hand on my shoulder. "Momentize." "Momentize?" "Live in the 'now'. The 'then' is past. The 'later' will come when it comes." "Yeah. I read you." "So, Mr. Rotor. What can you tell us about South Plumbington?" Rotor's looked down a bit. "There's...not much to tell." We left the park and said our goodbyes to Team Acorn for the season. We'd see them again in rare visits back to town. And they'd be back by the start of winter when the snow made track conditions too risky to compete. I pondered what Rotor meant but as soon as we got there the next day I had my answer. Sub-Entry 116: "South Plumbington/Plumber's Peak": "Well. Here it is. It's not much but...it's home." "I didn't expect it to have so much...er...theme to it." "Trust me it's not all like this. Just this area commemorating plumbers and our craftwork." I looked at the multiple neck-deep pools of water and the maze of pipes and the sculptures made of bathtubs, sinks, and plumbing tools and such. "The rest of the town is pretty normal, I assure you." We walked through the maze of lone sidewalks dividing the pools and such. "Whoah...who's that?" Asriel ran up to the bronze statue. The inscription at the base had the message "When the going gets tough, the tough get plumbing!" "Drainado Salvadora. Legendary plumber. Kind of the closest thing we have to a hero in our profession. They say he was the inspiration for--" "Legendary N-Division Agents "M" and "L"..." I interrupted. "Yeah. How did you know? But aren't their names Ma-" "Pit used to tell stories about them. How they were N-Division's two-fisted, boots-of-iron, high jumping faucet-fixers. I mean...they were the Brothers. And they're still famous even today." It didn't take a genius to know who their Prime Dimension counterparts were. But as it was hinted...their princess always seemed to be in another castle. "Say cheese!" We all gathered in front of the statue and posed while I magnetically levitated Asriel's camera and set the timer. I pulled the camera back into my hand and showed the photo it snapped. We walked around a bit before leaving the park and its various...er...sculptures and such. And sure enough the rest of the town was pretty normal. Eventually we came to... "Not much to look at, is it?" "It's...home." "Oh man..." Violet wrinkled her nose at the dilepidated house with the plumbing business sign out front. "You did just fine on your own, Rotor." Bunnie comforted. "You're still in better standings than some of the survivors of Vortex. Many of them are...still being medically and psychologically treated to this day." Rotor sighed and reached up and felt around on top of the front door's frame until he found the front door key. "Most people look under the mat. Who'd think to look up here?" He shrugged. He unlocked the door and we were greeted with musk, dust, and cobwebs. Had it been that long? It was a stark contrast to how much neater Mitzi's residence was. "We haven't been back here in years, have we, Skeets?" Skeeter shook his head. Inside, plumbing tools a plenty lay astrewn on the furniture and hung on wall racks and such. There was a set of plungers of different lengths mounted on a wall plaque. That was when I sensed the power was off. Likely the water and gas too. "Buisness...wasn't exactly great before we left for Fontraile." "Considering our town is DROWNING in plumbing services and suppliers, we're lucky we're only in the red and not completely broke, bro." "Plumbing capital of the world. Hard to make a name for yourself when you don't have the financial status and resources of a place like Scappelli Industries." He looked out the window at the large skyscraper with said name on the side. Scappelli. Where had I heard that name before? "You know...I can't ask all of you to crash in this. I...don't know how but we have to find a better place to stay. I'll look for a hotel." Rotor looked very dejected. Violet pulled Bunnie and me aside. "No wonder it's so easy for him to be humble. Look what he had to settle for back in this place." "Normally I'd smack you for being insensative about it, but you have a point. This is no way for them to live after making it out of Vorostov." "What do we do about this?" "He doesn't need our pity. We'll support him however we need to." I crossed my arms. Asriel was kind of quiet but I could see semblance of sadness. "I know what we can do." He suddenly broke his silence. "We can help him clean this place up." "Asriel...that...is...a brilliant idea!" "Yeah, it'll be just like one of those 80's movies montages." And so once we convinced Rotor to be on board with this that's exactly what it became. Violet, with Bunnie's help, hauled in a ridiculously large boom box. She thrust some 80's mix tapes into both of the tape decks, hit the loop button and mashed play. I opened up the breaker box and got to work on the house wiring to make sure it was in working order. Rotor and Skeeter of course jumped right into their craft to get the water back up and running. "Mason wrench." Rotor prompted. "Mason wrench!" Skeeter handed over the proper tool. Bunnie, for the first time brought out the sushi chenjaa moji-cellular and began texting. In moments she brought into existence her grouping of her Mojikara origami avatar constructs. Or as Vi called them her "folding-zords". The resemblence to the Samurai Power Rangers' folding zords was uncanny. In order they included "Shi-Shi", "Ryuu", "Kame", "Saru", "Kuma", and "Ika". She gave them instructions in Jangese and each was asigned a task. The water dragon, Ryuu, for example (reduced to 1% of his true size) took care of washing and cleaning the dishes and kitchen materials with its water element. While Shi-Shi the fire lion used its flame within the stove to clean it while the power was off. Violet put in the calls to have some materials brought to Rotor's residence such as wall paper, dry wall, tiles, paint and such. "Okay, try it now!" I flipped the breaker switch. "Nothing!" Asriel called back down the opened air vent. "Dang. Okay. Keep trying, Volt." Mitzi and Nermal had their hands full with the cleanup of the dust, dirt, and cobwebs. So none of us were prepared for Mitzi's shriek when-- "EEEEEEEEEEEEK!" She leaped up onto the kitchen counter and pointed at what I definitely confirmed was a cockroach. "Eeeww!" Nermal jumped up with her and both proceeded to bear hug each other and freak out. Violet started to lift her foot to put it out of its misery when Bunnie held her back and shook her head. Violet turned to see Asriel whimpering with knuckles over his mouth, afraid that Vi would actually try to squash it. Violet rolled her eyes and grabbed a broom and proceeded to try to coax it out of the house through the open back door. Even an insect that gross and disease-carrying deserved a humane disposal. And it put Asriel's mind at ease. A few hours later thanks to a mix of hybrid powers, technology, and yes...determination...we finally made headway and got the house put back together to a much better degree. "Hit it!" I threw the main breaker and the lights all came on. Rotor turned the water valves back on and soon we had running water again. And finally Sally lit the pilot light on the boiler and heating unit and we soon had hot water, a working heating/cooling system, and working oven. "I really have to thank you guys. Home has never looked better." "No problem, old friend. No problem." Bunnie bowed her head. After that we explored more of the town before deciding to have a hike up Plumber's Peak. But getting there was a whole other different kind of...unique. "Sooooo...these bubbles. Experimental non-toxic chemical." "That's the size of it." Rotor climbed up on top of the platform leading to the weird chimney spout. "And you're SURE each will hold our weight...and y'know...not pop in midair?" I looked at the machine warily. "Sure. We haven't had an accident in..." "The fact you've had even one at all doesn't reassure me." "Come on, Commander. Don't be a stick in the mud." "Easy for you to say. Not all of us can superconduct, have jet packs, or use other weird methods to fly." I turned to Asriel. "You know you could have given him that thing--" "I will once I can have Gadget teach him how to ride it." I defended. "Don't worry. We'll be on the ball if we need to make unexpected rescues in the event something goes wrong." Bunnie said as she finished scripting as a golden puffy cloud appeared. She hopped on and the cloud lifted her up onto the platform of the next chimney spout in question. "You okay with this, Mom?" I turned to Nermal. "Have faith in your friends, sweetie. They know what they're doing." I sighed and superconducted to the next platform while Asriel climbed up the spiral staircase to one of us own. Once we all took our places. Rotor hit the foot pedal on the edge of the platform and stepped onto the grate which retracted from under him as a large bubble fomed under his feet. It began rising and Rotor started jogging atop it, causing it to spin. It oddly started to take a strangely guided path through the air and up the mountain. Given the direction he was running and that based on the Magnus Effect, the bubble should have been going backwards...but yet it completely defied this fundamental law of physics and continued on toward the top of the mountain. Skeeter followed suit. "I've never jogged on a bubble before." Asriel followed Rotor's example. "Whoah...whooooah. Ha...haha...! I'm getting it! I think I'm getting it!" And like that Asriel's fear disappeared. Guess Gravitron Park did wonders for him. Everyone else went in sequence. And I was the last to go. It was like something out of a cartoon. Literally walking on bubbles. "Come on, slowpokes! Get the lead out! Andele! Andele!" Skeeter taunted as he pulled ahead. "Great. We got another Arlene in the making." I grumbled. "Why do I keep trying to IMPROVE my health when it always makes me feel like I'm about to REMOVE my health?" "A little perseverance never hurt anyone, Volt-san." "Most perseverance doesn't come with a mile drop to terra firma!" I responded. Rotor started to lag behind and I caught up to him. "I think I agree. This health stuff is hazardous to my health." "Race you to the top!" Skeeter challenged as Asriel caught up. "You're on!" By now Asriel was most assuredly acting like a normal kid again. And that brought me relief. Almost a 1/3rd of a year had gone by and I no longer worried if I'd be able to heal his fractured mind and heart. Now I wondered just how strong both could get. "You have changed, Asriel. But despite it all...it's still you." I uttered quitely. We made it to the top before long. Asriel and Skeeter ended up tying for first place. Gadget took a quick second with Mitzi and Nermal sharing a modest third. Bunnie pulled into fourth while Violet took fifth. I managed to pull ahead of Rotor leaving him with last place. I then noticed that there was more...theme to Plumbers Peak. More pipes and rushing water and giant sinks and bathtubes all embedded in and around the mountain in the weirdest of working waterworks sculpures. Guard rails were put up to make sure no one leaned too far. We wouldn't want to get sucked down the very working drains. "Well. That was...different." I panted, tongue wagging. I didn't care if it was degrading to the species at that point...I just wanted to breathe. "And fun!" Asriel beamed. "Look at that view." Bunnie admired. "Amazing!" Mitzi agreed. "It's so wonderful! Your home town is great, Mr. Rotor!" Gadget said all bubbly-like. "It's home." "So. How do we get down?" Violet asked. "Well..." It was another hike before we got to a place we could get transportation. In hindsight we should have had Violet have the limo and the 57' Chevy standing by to drive our way. But a taxi service was just as good. And soon we managed to make room in Rotor's residence for a sleep over. It was quaint but enjoyable. And thus the vacation went on. But while we were having fun in our world, there was activity going on in the Underground... Sub-Entry 117: "Meanwhile in the Underground/A Triadic Alliance": While we were getting our vacation on... Papyrus entered Grillby's and sure enough there was Sans at the counter, downing a bottle of ketchup like it was free refills on drinks. "Again, Sans? I'm beginning to get the impression you're avoiding my cooking." "Nah. It's not like that Paps. Sometimes I just gotta have some me-time. Not that I don't appreciate your company or your cooking. Y'know. Sometimes it is what it is and you don't think deep into it." "This is your fourth visit this week, dear brother. It's not healthy." "I suppose I should hold off on the unhealthy food...but I just don't have the guts to do it!" "SANS." Papyrus scolded. "Okay I'll hold off on the jokes. I can tell you don't have the...stomach for them." "OH MY GOD." Papyrus' eyes bugged out...wait he has EYES? "I can't believe you..." The skeleton brothers continued to banter back and forth, unaware of the cloaked figure who entered. From a table in the back two other figures in hooded cloaks beckoned the stranger over. Once seated. "I'm s-sorry we had to meet l-like this but..." "It would appear our options were limited." "I don't like it. Being this close to Papyrus and Sans. If they recognize even one of us..." "Discretion is paramount. But I fear there are very few places that are beyond Asgore's watchful eye." "You realize I'm head of his Royal Guard. I should be reporting this to him right now." Undyne's lone eye glowed underneath the hood. "But you will not, will you?" Toriel asked. "...." "Please." Toriel pleaded. "Very well. But I don't have to like it." A momentary pause. "A lot has happened s-since the eighth human child arrived." Alphys began. "What am I thinking...being besties with a human?" "Oh my. They have managed to win even you over?" "Grrr....don't...rub it in." The salt was real for the fish. "I think it is wonderful!" Undyne shifted at that. "I apologize. I...understand your difficulty accepting them. " "I just don't get it. Even now I don't get it, your highness. Why? Why don't you feel the same? You saw...you saw what they did to our prince...your son." "I saw. And that is why I cannot do as they would. For me to lower myself to the level of a sparce few...I would be no better. Asgore in his cowardice made that choice. I cannot forgive him. I cannot perpetuate the cycle. Hate breeds hate. Death begets death." Toriel's meloncholy expression would have cracked my heart in half. "You frustrated me with your beliefs. I couldn't stand it." "I was admittedly jealous of you, Undyne. You garnered attention from him in a way that I couldn't. Every time he wielded that infernal trident...all I could do was look away. That eye...I know how you lost it. And yet despite it all...you stood by him when he made his decree." "The way I saw it...I didn't have a choice. I'm not the type to bite the hand that feeds me. Dammit all...I couldn't go against my king. Not after he took me in. Trained me. Made me what I am. Made me head of the royal guard. I vowed I would become a true hero. One the people could look up to. To give hope. I needed to think of all my friends...not lone humans who would sooner butcher us." "They are not all like that. You must've learned this by now." "Maybe I did choose the easier path...maybe they would've felt I betrayed my kind if I supported you instead of him. I didn't want to overthink things. You know I don't work like that. I'm not smart the way you two are." "There is a difference beween being smart and being wise. I thought I understood the difference but I am in no better standings than you as it were. In the end instead of following what I knew I followed what I felt. Because of that...I stood alone. So very alone." "C-can I say something? As much as we feel l-like reflecting on the p-past. I fear there is a g-greater threat at work than the human." Alphys steered the conversation back to the matter at hand. "Alphys..." "Doctor. You have been working in secret at Asgore's behest. Can you not disclose anything of your work?" "I am v-very s-s-sorry, Lady Toriel. I c-can't do it. A-Asgore's decrees...his orders were absolute. Not even for you, m'lady...it's just..." "Alphys...you don't have to explain anything. Not to anyone...even her." Toriel was ominously silent at that. "Please forgive me. But we are g-getting off track." "Very well. Continue, Doctor." "First. Let m-m-me apologize f-for Mettaton N-N-Neo. I...I made a horrible m-mistake building that body. Mettaton requests your forgivenes as well." "He is forgiven." "But if he looks at me funny I'm going to suplex him into a boulder then suplex a boulder into him!" Undyne would most certainly do just that if given the chance. "Okay! O-k-kay! C-C-Calm down! He's under control." Alphys pushed her glasses up a little underneath the hood. "I'm afraid there's something more serious at work here. And it concerns......." Alphys hesitated for a long time. "Concerns...?" "It concerns...Chara." Toriel was silent again. "You mean the little scrub that--" Undyne started. "...the child that you adopted into the Royal Family? Couldn't pry that little punk from the Prince with a broadsword. What about her?" "I think...no...I have very good reason to believe her soul...her spirt...whatever essence is left of her...has been secretly manipulating and terrorizing us." "...No...not my daughter...not Chara. She wouldn't--" Undyne slammed her fist down on the table. "That little BRAT!" "I'm afraid it's true. I...found evidence that...she's made use of my laboratory to get control of the Mettaton NEO body. I fear she may have also been...controlling at least some of us at some point...like...through spiritual possession. The walls...they were covered in writing. The writing...matches things written by Chara when she was alive. The writing on the wall...it all speaks of...very specific things. Things that only Chara could know...disturbing things of what she plans to do. And........many instances of two names that appear quite often. One of them is the late prince's." "No...please no...I...I..." "Wake up and open your eyes, Lady Dreemurr." Undyne struggled to keep her voice down. "Who else could it be? One of the OTHER children that fell down here? You know that isn't possible. Asgore has every one of their souls except two. The eighth child--who's STILL alive......and the first child. The late princess." "Why...why is this happening?" Alphys hesitated and gently placed a hand on Toriel's shoulder. "Doctor...the other name...?" Alphys looked down at the table, tracing the form of a lightning bolt on the surface. "Volt Arcade." Silence. "He's neck deep in this and Chara has a very intense grudge against him. I'm a-afraid she wants to use him for some sinister purpose." "What do you know about him, Doctor?" "Very little, I'm afraid." Alphys looked to the side, hoping neither of them would suspect she was safeguarding my secrets as I was safeguarding hers. "He did something to piss her off. That little shortstack was pounding the living Hell.......er...heck out of him when I arrived." Undyne corrected herself, feeling on the spot for swearing in front of Toriel. "It wasn't just random beatings. She was taking her time making him suffer. It was personal." "Has anyone seen him since leaving Hotland?" "No." "N-No, your highness." "He cannot just simply disappear. Should we...should we look for him?" "I...I think that would be unwise. Knowing him...he'll look for us when he knows something we don't." Alphys volunteered. "I believe that is a wise decision." "If I had to h-hypothesize? I think h-he may decide to m-meet with Asgore." "For what purpose?" Toriel asked sternly. "If I may s-speculate? To learn m-more about the monster who's on the v-verge of declaring war on the humans. And...m-m-maybe...j-just maybe...try to reason with him?" "He will not listen. But it is admirable that Dr. Arcade would attempt to try." "He's a fool. But he's a fool with guts. I respect that much. And...I owe him one so..." Undyne crossed her arms. "We have to prepare for whatever's coming. Something b-big is on the horizon and Chara is obviously at the epicenter. And I fear that she'll d-drag our King into this sooner than we th-think." "So. What do we do?" "I vote...we assist Dr. Arcade for whatever he has planned." "I second. Wholeheartedly." Silence for a bit. "I guess I'm in. I can't stand the thought of being in debt to that weirdo wolf." "Then it is decided. If he calls upon us, we will come." "What do we do about the human?" "Continue to watch over my child, Doctor. Continue to follow Asgore's orders. Both of you. But find a way to relay what you learn to me. I will not have Fluffybuns take another one from this world. Even if it costs us our freedom." "Lady Toriel..." Undyne started. "Freedom is not free. Volt said something to me before I left your lab, Doctor. During our conversation while you were tending to Undyne we spoke of many things including the matter of the Barrier...and the child. When I asked him on his position on Asgore's decree...he said that freedom is the right of all sentient beings. But survival should not come at the expense of others. I believe...firmly believe that Asriel understood this. That is why...he did not fight the humans when he crossed the barrier. It would have been the easy way out. If this was Chara's plan, it would have been the quickest and easiest way to succeed. But it would have been the wrong way to do it. That's why...that's why my poor baby died...because he was stronger than his father...and his sister." Undyne didn't know how to respond to that. "The child hasn't harmed anyone since arriving here. They've...even gone so far as to befriend everyone, large and small, since I started monitoring. M-maybe...maybe this one is the one. Maybe...maybe they'll find a way that none of us have thought of to break the barrier...without sacrifice." Alphys suggested. "We're so close...we're so d... ...darn close. I can feel it. I can taste it. I want it so badly. Almost as badly as Asgore. But...if it does come to that...how can I be expected to betray my king and my people for the sake of one human kid?" "There are no easy answers. Perhaps...the child will show us the way. I must apologize but my time has grown short." "Crap, if I don't get back soon, Asgore will know something's up." "And I have to return to my lab...there are...things I need to attend to. Things I wish I could talk about...but the less either of you know. The less ANYONE knows." "Does...Dr. Arcade know anything about your work?" "...no." Alphys lied, managing to supress her stutter. "Good luck to you, Undyne. Good luck to you, Doctor." "And to you as well, Lady Dreemurr." "Just...Toriel. I...I am not...comfortable being addressed by his family name. I.......I have no family. Not anymore...maybe...I never shall have one of my own again..." Toriel she a tear in complete sadness and loneliness. She stood up and hastilly headed out. "Dammit it all..." Undyne closed her eye and her ear frills drooped under the hood. "How the Hell am I supposed to stand resolute when something like this gives me...the feels... I'll be in touch, Alphys. I have to get out of here before I do something Grillby will bill me for." Undyne left next. Alphys sighed. "Last in. Last out. What hope is there when we're just barely on the same page. Maybe this was a mistake after all...someone please give me a sign that this isn't all for naught." Alphys trudged out. "...then it's agreed." "Hey. What kind of brother would I be if I let let you keep worrying about me all the time." "Let's go home, Sans." "..." "Sans?" "Zzz..." "Unbelievable." Papyrus picked up his brother and lifted him into a piggyback ride. "Er...put whatever he ordered on his tab, good sir?" "Done." Grillby replied. "I guess you've had yourself a long day, Sans. But you'd better be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for tomorrow." Papyrus headed out and back to their home. And from there the Monsters of Snowdin drifted off to their slumber. A new day awaiting tomorrow. And where was Frisk in all of this? At the Hotel Mettaton... Frisk wriggled across the length of the vastly oversized bed, underneath the covers before spilling out the other side. They muffled a giggle before climbing back in and starting all over again. Who needed sleep? Sub-Entry 118: "Corinth": "Okay. I got us military clearance to enter Corinth. Don't expect to see much beyond the residential district. Much of what goes on here is classified." "So this is where Sally's OGPX technology was invented?" "The basis for it. Orignally it was designed as covert, infantry, powered armored suits." "Riiiight. Because nothing says covert like rainbow colored spandex." "It's not spandex, Violet. It's a composite implementation of a self-assembling nanofiber downmorphing system." "Right. It's spandex with fancy words." "Can you take this seriously? You of all people should have a vested interest after what HAPPENED here..." Violet's look soured. "Can we NOT talk about VENJIX? I agreed to quarantine that piece of malware once Dr. K and her team finished cleaning up the mess after years had gone by since that problem was put down. And I'm not the only one with an interest. Scott wouldn't even be here if it handn't been for the bugs, viruses, and malware that originated here and ended up in Vorostov's makeshifted joke they called a network system." "Sore spot, Vi?" "Sore enough. You think I like dealing with megalomaniacal A.I.'s that have sociapathic tendancies?" "Yikes. What the Hell kind of software do you DEAL with, Vi?" "The less you know, Commander." "Uh...I'm...completely lost." Asriel looked like he was about seconds away from "anime spiral eyes" as he was already sweatbullet-ing. "Just...grown-up mistakes we're not proud of, Cinnamon Roll." "So...what are we going to be able to see inside?" Gadget asked. "There's a memorial commemorating the heroes that put down Venjix's physical form. They're giving tours of the decommissioned lab Dr. K used to work at. I think I can get us into the control center. We'll be able to the G.I. housing. If want to pay our respects there's a cemetary for the fallen...kinda morbid but y'know. There's an airshow later today. Heard they were able to get the Sky Cowboy out of retirement from Mariner Bay. And there have a space administration museum in a joint effort with NASADA that's open to the public." "How about it, Asriel? Want to enjoy a day at Space Camp?" I turned to him and saw the starry eyes and the excited expression, and the knuckles under the mouth. And of all things his tail was actually wagging. "That's a yes." Later on... "When you said you could get us into the control tower, you neglected to say it was suspended over the city!" We looked out of the glass walls of the very oddly-shaped control center suspended between two buildings. "This is only a recreation. The real one was dropped on Venjix's head. Everything's now run remotely from an off site monitoring facility. All these controls are just for show." "Wow. I can see everything from up here!" "That sectioned off part of the city that's completely covered from the top?" "Military only. No prying eyes. That part is still in operation and very off limits. Very real military testing grounds and logistics. You get caught poking around there and even my connections can't get you out. I"m talking life sentence with no parole." "So what about the Pow--" "Decommissioned. Gone off to other walks of life. Our current Commander, still on the frontlines of his ongong mission, is sworn to secrecy over anything he might have worked on while assisting Dr. K." "Hey...is Codename Alphabet Soup still going on?" "Officially to the public? No. After Dr. K's and Miles' departure a public statement was made about the program's existence and disbanding. Lot of people plea-bargained for lighter sentences as a result. Taking custody of super genius children to work on complicated military science, research, and development while keeping them essentially prisoner was something that Neo Arcadia's board of ethics kinda frowned upon. The money trail did at least root out some people who defected from Vorostov during the war but...couldn't break old habits so...yeah. Lesson to be learned: don't play both sides of the field and think you can come out on top. That's a mess still being cleaned up." "A likely story." Rotor crossed his arms. "Still with your conspiracy theories, huh?" "Tell me you don't think it's being run somewhere else on a secret payroll of the government. If Tails knows anything he's sure not telling us." "Right." Violet prodded. "And you've finally cracked the code of these shadow organizations. And the Illuminati know...they're finally primed...for world domination!" Violet quoted the song, "Foil" by Weird Al Yankovic. Rotor facepalmed. "War time must be terrible." Asriel looked sad. "The worst." Bunnie agreed. "Even the side trying to listen to their conscience doesn't get by without a couple instances of bad choices and making desperate decisions. No matter what someone's going to end up with some skeletons in the closet." "Some more than others." Bunnie crossed her arms looking off in the distance toward where I assumed the border was that separated us from Vorostov. "I wonder how many their side and our side have admitted to. When you get down to it, politicians are still politicians." I crossed my arms. Violet sighed. "Vorostov approached me after my blow-up at the Allied Nations and tried to get Edoropia to break ties with Neo Arcadia. Tried to get us to ally against them. But as soon as I found out what happened to Ecotropia, I knew they were full of crap and all bets were off and they'd know Edoropia's wrath." I sensed the smoldering embers of old Violet's temper buried under the surface of new Violet's work-in-progress personality. Bunnie had done well making her a better person but...some feelings wouldn't die that easily. Shadows of psychologically messing with Antoine and tormenting Al Dente were proof. "You really stirred things up the next time you stormed into the A.N. meeting room and demanded holding Vorostov responsible. Or so the story goes. History says Edoropia withdrew from the A.N. and threatened secceeding from Neo Arcadia and becoming an indepedent sovereign nation." Asriel blinked, getting kinda lost by that point. "Let's change the subject. The past should stay the past. Let Asriel-kun learn about it in school in an unpolarized setting, okay?" "Okay. It's not doing anything for me." Violet glowered. Later that day we visited Dr. K's lab. Although it was strange...the key materials and devices that went into her R.P.M. task force/squadron never surfaced during the audit of her assets. It was likely the Doctor took them with her after fleeing the city. "Eh. It's adequate I guess for what she did here." Violet stifled a yawn. "Not everyone has your budget to work with, Violet." Bunnie advised. "Especially when nations are at war and you have to worry about out-of-control military-home-grown viruses running amuck." "VENJIX didn't start out a virus. But his programming didn't quite adapt the way the doctor or the military had hoped. Just think...if she had successfully installed the firewall that day, none of the chaos would have happened. And Kabuki Quantum Fighter wouldn't have existed." "Dad..." Asriel looked down a bit. We visited the cemetery to pay our respects to the fallen. I think it was the first time Asriel really saw a tangible form of what he understood about death in the number of gravestones on sight. And it hammered home how terrible war was. "This is why Dad is the way he is. Isn't it?" "A big part of it, when he can remember it, kid." Violet nodded. Gadget sobbed buckets of tears. I didn't like seeing everyone so mood-crushed. So I was relieved when we finally got to the air show then the space administration. "Wishing you were up there, Vi?" Mitzi asked while we watched the biplanes soar. "Nah. I can fly any time back home." "Better you than Ripper." "I don't think I'm going to be *snicker* watering the Palace Garden with helicopter parts any time soon." Asriel looked up at me. I shrugged. "Any landing you can walk away from?" I said with a cheesey grin. He stifled a laugh. And finally at the space administration, we got to see everything related to space. Bunnie took the challenge of the centrifuge. "Wow. 8 G's and not even dizzy. You got the right stuff, Buns." We each got to use the space shuttle simulator; each group assigned a role. Gadget as pilot, Mitzi on communications, me as engineering, Rotor as science officer, and Asriel as shuttle commander. We were all ecstatic upon successfully completing the mission without crash-landing on re-entry. Asriel got to enjoy a simulated space walk on the moon with a bit of hololythics and gravity manipulation. I just couldn't be prouder as I watched from the monitors as he planted the Neo Arcadia flag, stepped back and saluted. We all got to ride in lunar rovers in an outdoor coral. And before we knew it the day came to a close and we were soon headed back to Neo Arcadia City. "What a vacation." I said as the last of the photos and videos were uploaded and en route to Callie and Scott's social media pages. "I've never had so much fun in my life. I wish every day could be like this." "We all do. But...then every day wouldn't be special. This vacation wouldn't be special." "Yeah, I guess you're right." "Well, it isn't over yet. We still have to enjoy the last day or two of it. We just might be able to drop by the city of Brighton. It's named after your mother, you know." "Oh really? Cool!" "I'll tell you all about it on the way." Sub-Entry 119: "Wrapping Up the Vacation/The Threat of Chara" "So that was the city of Brighton? I had no idea it was founded in Mom's honor." Asriel looked impressed. Unfortunately I neglected to log the specifics of our stay in Brighton. It was probably for the best, though. What I could summarize about the City of Brighton was that it was an academic community and a central science hub, speciallizing in the modern theory and practice of psionics. Much of what modern psychics--real ones, not the crystal ball fortune tellers or the ones that were one step away from starting their own tax-exempt religion--practiced, Callista pioneered here in her home town. "The reason Callie doesn't talk about it much is because of how overwhelmed she was by attention she received. It's kind of a big thing when a city is founded and named while you're still alive. The work she's done in her lifetime is absolutely legendary in both the field of nerve and brain science as well as applied psionic theory. So much of everything that professional psychers these days are capable of is thanks to to everything she pioneered. On top of that she may very well be the finest brain surgeon that has every lived." "Wow. Mom's famous!" "Yeah...kinda is." We had take our time to take a breather at a rest stop area. It was good to stretch the legs and get some refreshments from the vending machines and such. "We've done a lot on this trip." I looked on. "It's been amazing, Commander." Mitzi said unwrapping a jumbo Milky Way bar. There was a momentary silence. "There's not much of this vacation left is there?" Violet frowned. "No. All good things..." We all looked kind of down. "It's...not over yet, right? We're still going back to Neo Arcadia City to say goodbye to everyone, right?" Asriel offered. "Yeah. It wouldn't be good form to just cut and run." "Plus we gotta gather all our souvenirs and send the last batch of photos and such. "True dat." I nodded to Bunnie who understood my prompt and called Asriel away as a distraction. "So. Mom. In your medical opinion--" "If you're asking if you're in any capacity to return to active duty, son, you'll be good to go once you get back to Miranda City. I'll call ahead to Elektra and Velaska to verify." "Thanks. I can't stay out of the field for too long...certain...things have to be taken care of." "You'll be careful, won't you?" "I'm going to start taking a tally of how many times someone can channel Goat Mom." I whispered. "When do I get to meet her?" Nermal asked. "Be patient. I'll arrange it some day." I was daydreaming but I kept envisioning a time when I'd be able to bring Boss Monsters of the Underground and anyone else who was fair game to Miranda City to say hello to their other-worldly-neighbors. Or perhaps vice-versa. Maybe both. It was a nice dream...but as things were I couldn't make them happen any time soon. Not until I removed the complications and obstacles in the way. And let's face it. Chara had to go. Before she could do any more harm. "She...cant be saved, can she?" I had explained Chara to her during a free moment when Asriel wasn't around to overhear. "I don't know. All I have to go on is a dream...a very intense dream. If it's true then I have to help her. Asriel may have dissolved ties but he'd never understand if I turned my back on her when she needed my help. But...if she is what she is and nothing more...then I have to put her down before she puts someone else down." "How are you going to go about seeing Asgore?" "I'm resourceful, Mom. I'll find a way. The real challenge is figuring out what I"m going to say to him. Let's be frank. I have to let him follow his path. I can no more talk him out of battling Frisk for their soul than I can stop the sun from setting. It's his fate. His role in the grand scheme of history." "It's unfair is what it is." "It's not just the Council that's come to this decree. It's Destiny and Fate's final say." "Forces beyond your control. I understand. But...are they really all confined to predetermined events? Do they really have no control over their lives?" "Nermal. There's always the anomaly known as choice. Even if it's recorded history. Fate and Destiny can change. Maybe Frisk can make it happen. The real concern is that they don't get bored of the timeline after the True End and rest. I guess...that's the fear that Sans and I have in common. That one day...it's all going to be reset. Every relationship I made, every effort I didn't spare, every life I kept from getting snuffed out." I looked at her sadly. "Asriel and I are more alike than I want to admit. I...I made friends down there. I...don't want to let go of them. I don't want to go down there one day and see a bunch of familiar faces who've suddenly become strangers again. I don't want what we've all gained taken away. I don't want it to end." I was struggling with all my might not to start crying. "Shhhhh." It's okay, son. It's okay." Nermal stroked my ears. "Even if that happens. They'll still be alive when the world resets, right?" "Yeah...that's true. It's still a better fate than if Chara destroys another timeline. And I sure don't want a instance where Frisk agrees to pay their soul to restore the world and bring everyone back--" I came to a horrific realization. Something I had overlooked from my various observations of the stable Genocide Timelines. If there were other Charas out there...which ones had convinced Frisk to give them their soul? Which ones had taken more than one Frisk's soul? I had a terrible vision of an incarnation of Chara in possession of millions of Frisk souls. Or worse...what if she weilded them as weapons? Would she...would she use them against Asriel to get her revenge for failing her? I had about a hundred more instances of nightmare fuel. "Neil? You have that look again. That look when you're overloaded by your own fears and worries. Talk to me." "What do I do if...Chara isn't the only soul in that horrid creature? What if she's devoured innocents? I don't want to put her down if it means taking innocents with her." "I'm sorry...but...I'm afraid even your mother doesn't have all the answers. You'll...just have to trust yourself." I had always had an interesting parental setup. Garfield was my father and Nermal was my mother but they weren't a couple let alone had any romance between them. No, Garfield and Arlene were the ones who dated. If anything I'd seen chemistry (no pun intended) between Odie and Nermal. Regardless of the strange setup, Nermal was always honest when she didn't have the answers. But she also encouraged me to find them on my own, assuring me of how much she believed in me. "Yeah. I guess so. One thing's for sure. I have to keep her from finding Asriel. Even if there's the slimmest chance that her soul could be absorbed by him I refuse to allow him to become the Absolute God of Hyperdeath. Not now. Not ever." "That's my determined little cub. You do what you have to do." "I will." We hugged longingly. "Volt? Miss Nermal? We're all good to go! We're ready to head back to Neo Arcadia City." "I know Garfield usually says this...but good talk, son." "Very good." Sub-Entry 120: "Return Home (To Miranda City)": "Everyone packed?" "Your car is strapped in tight. Ready for transport." "I got all the souvenirs loaded up." Gadget quipped. "All our luggage is accounted for, Volt-san." "And I've totally got plenty of awesome spare." "It's weird. It seemed so...unreal that we were leaving Miranda City only two weeks ago and now...now we're about to leave Neo Arcadia and head back there." Asriel looked a little melancholic yet his expression told he was in deep reflection. "Time flies when you're having fun." "Take care of yourself, son. Be sure to write or text. Live-stream if you can." Garfield nodded. "We'll bring lasagna." Mitzi giggled. "Yes, please bring lasagna." "Keep me updated on Asriel's education. He deserves the best he can get." "Not to worry, mentor. I got it covered." "Now. About your training regimen--" Arlene started. "I have it well in hand, Arlene-ippantekina (General)." "Good to hear, Major. Carry on." Arlene saluted. Bunnie returned the gesture. "Hey hey hey! Don't forget to keep it weeeeeeeeeeird!" Ed slid in with a rubber glove on his head and X-Ray while wearing a tee-shirt that said "I <3 Toxic Waste" and bunny slippers. "He's still funny." Asriel pointed a thumb toward Ed as he looked up at me. "Always is." *POOOF* B. J. calmed walked over to Asriel. "W...wow...!" "Hey. Some advice, little wizard. Even if you don't have magic...you're still magic. You're magic in the place that counts. Right here in your heart. You believe in yourself and that's the most powerful magic of all." It was the most I'd ever heard him say. And damn. It. Was. So. COOL. Ahem...right. And then he was gone in a poof. "He doesn't say much often, does he?" Asriel broke the silence. "Nope." You know know that I thought about it...his voice reminded me a lot of Steve Blum as Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Beebop. It was very n-nice of you to c-come home, Volt. Come b-back some day." "Will do, Kitty. Will do." "私は、私の学生をあなたに教えてきたことすべてを覚えておいてください。" Kimiko and Bunnie bowwed to one another. "私は、そう先生を行うものとします。" Bunnie replied. "What did she say?" Asriel asked. Again I shrugged. "Remember! No worries, mon!" "None, Ariel. None." I nodded. I had to be careful when I wrote these reports. Her name was one letter away from Asriel's. A single letter s. "Dosvidaniya, comrades." Ivan bid fairwell. Then nine of ten founders waved one last time as we borded Violet's monstrosity of a plane. The founders headed back inside to the airport terminal and watched from the window as Violet cranked her up. We left the airfield and were soon en route back home. "They were all really nice people, Volt. I really want to come back and visit them again." "Well. There's always next year. Next summer." "I think I can wait that long. There's still a lot more in the year to come, right? More birthdays and holidays and stuff." "You know it, little man. Pound it." We shared a knuckle bump. "There was much to reflect on while we were there. We went in as 11 and we're coming back as only eight." "Sally, Willie, and Honey will be back in town again. It's just a matter of time and opportunity." Rotor comforted. "Of course, old friend. Of course." Gadget and Skeeter had fallen asleep. And gosh did they ever look like angels. I ended up drifting off myself for a while. Maybe the trip back home wouldn't be so-- I was suddenly awakened by the unmistkable sound of the intro to N'Sync's "Bye Bye Bye". :detemmienation: (Music Link) "Oh no..." "Ohhhhhhhhhh yeeeeeeeeeees!" Violet was in full costume and managed to convince Rotor, Skeeter, Asriel, and Gadget to assist her in full cosplay. "Hey, heeeeey!" "Bunnie, quick. Let me borrow your kunai daggers..." I moaned as Violet improved her own set of lyrics. "Bye-bye-bye! (Bye-bye...!.....Bye-bye!) I...welcome you to this flight! It's...gonna be oh so tight! I...know it's outta sight! Hey, baby come onnnn! I...love this eye candy! Won't you show some props for me! And...now you're really gonna see that life is so much better...when we got it goin' onnn! I know it only makes you want us more! It ain't no lie. I know our awesome is what you're here for. Baby, bye-bye-bye! Say goodbye to your salt and all your frowns, too. Just another day of being amazing for you! You may rate me, I hope it's thumbs-up time, baby, bye-bye-bye! (Ain't nobody gonna take no guff. I just want you to know we got the stuff!) Might get crazy but it ain't no lie, baby bye-bye-bye!" Juuuuust hit the replay on Y-Tube, now don't hate us like a n00b! I'll give you 100 reasons why you should put us onnnnn. Hear our sound endlessly and...you will really learn to believe...that the internet's so much better when we're not gooone. I know it only makes you want us more! It ain't no lie. I know our awesome is what you're here for. Baby, bye-bye-bye!" Say goodbye to your salt and all your frowns, too. Just another day of being amazing for you! You may rate me, I hope it's thumbs-up time, baby, bye-bye-bye! (Ain't nobody gonna take no guff. I just want you to know we got the stuff!) Might get crazy but it ain't no lie, baby bye-bye-bye!" And all the while Violet had managed to teach them all the dance steps. Good grief. How the Hell did she do it? "Yuup. The Ultra Crew Institute Action Team are coming back home...gods help us all..." I folded my ears back. Chapter 13 Back to Part 2 Back to Project: Lost Dreemurr